The Saint John’s community mourns the passing of alumnus Fr. Don Talafous, OSB, monk, teacher, mentor, chaplain and friend, who died on April 11 in Collegeville, Minnesota at the age of 99.
“Fr. Don was a dear friend to generations of students, faculty, staff, monastics and presidents. We miss him and will continue to model his revered gifts of deep listening and genuine friendship,” said Dr. Brian Bruess, president of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.
Added Saint John’s Abbot Douglas Mullin, OSB: “Early on in his monastic life and ministry, Fr. Don discovered a gift for relating to the spiritual challenges of our students and alums in their ordinary lives. With both a gift and a serious work ethic, he was able to remember names, faces and places of origin in a way that enabled him to be profoundly personal with thousands of friends and alums.”
During his eight decades of association with Saint John’s, Fr. Don literally became the essence of the place and the embodiment of our Benedictine values.
He served as an undergraduate and seminary student, a faculty resident and theology professor, and as alumni chaplain. But most of all, Fr. Don served through his faith, guidance, gratitude and inspiration, both in his personal interactions at Saint John’s as well as the Daily Reflections he provided to thousands of readers around the world (www.saintjohnsabbey.org/reflection).
“Fr. Don will be remembered for how steady and gracefully he journeyed with those he encountered,” Bruess said. “He was unmatched in his ability to remember names and hometowns, but more importantly he delighted in knowing each person’s story and life passions.”
Added Adam Herbst ’99, Saint John’s executive director of University Relations: “There IS no one else who knows so many people and has such a vast connection within the Saint John’s community. It’s just unprecedented, unparalleled.”
Born Jan. 4, 1926 in Duluth, Minnesota, Fr. Don arrived at the Saint John’s campus in September 1943 as a 17-year-old freshman. He obtained his undergraduate degree in 1948 and completed his seminary studies in 1952.
Other than subsequent teaching postings at St. Augustine’s College in Nassau, Bahamas (1952-54) and at St. Anselm’s Parish in Bronx, New York (1954-56), and a graduate school stint in Berkeley, California (1968-70), Fr. Don basically never left Saint John’s other than to travel on its behalf.
He served as a faculty resident and theology professor for nearly 40 years, earned the Walter Reger Award in 1989 and became alumni chaplain after his retirement from teaching in 1996.
A voracious reader with a penchant for biographies, and a bit of a coffee snob as his one notable vice, Fr. Don also was blessed with an exceptional memory for names and used that right up to his final years in his interactions with alumni who were his students dating back to the 1950s.
“I’m grateful for pretty darn good health, wonderful work and (being) surrounded by very wonderful people,” Fr. Don said in a 2018 interview with Saint John’s Magazine. “I need myself to be encouraged and hopeful every day.
“There are some like myself that are involved in such rewarding work that you feel it’s going to be hard to let go. I hope that it’s rooted in my trust in the Lord. It’s hard to think of leaving.”
Memorials in honor of Fr. Don may be made to the Don Talafous Scholarship Fund at Saint John’s University, Development Office, P.O. Box 7222, Collegeville, MN 56321 or online.
Funeral Arrangements:
Reception of the body on Tuesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. in Saint John’s Abbey and University Church.
Funeral Mass on Wednesday, April 16, at 3:30 p.m. in Saint John’s Abbey and University Church.
Funeral attendees can park in any available parking lots. Shuttles will be provided from the Athletics Fields Lot and the Flynntown Parking Lot: Saint John’s campus map
The funeral will be live-streamed on the Saint John’s Abbey YouTube channel.
